Mouthpiece for musical instruments



Jan. 9, 1-923.

E. MILLER. MouTHPIEcE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS,

FILED MAY 25 1922 Patented Jan. 9, 1923.

UNITED STATES ELVIN MILLER, OF WEATHERLY, PENNSYLVANIA.

MOUTHPIECE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Application filed May 25,

To all w/emn, it may (mime/'1 Be it known that l. ELvrN IvliLLnn. a citizen of the United States, residing at il eatherly, in the county of Carbon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented. new and useful Improvements in Mouthpieces for Musical Instruments. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mouth pieces for musical instruments of the trumpet type. such as the comet trombone and the like, and the primary object of the invention is to provide simple and effective means in the mouth piece for reducing the whirling motion of the a r in the mouth piece tending to produce olriecti nahle cross vibrations and or directing the air in longitudinal line streams so as to augment and retain the longitudinal tone vibrations so desirous in order to enable purity of tone and fine tone qualities to be olitained.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a mouth piece which I havev found to be of value to musicians having bad or ill fitting teeth or whose teeth are partly or wholly missing. in enabling siiich musicians to play with better efiect.

in the accompanying drawing,-

Figlju'e l is a central longitudinal section through my improved mouth piece.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a detail view of the partition or septum.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a mouth piece of conventional torn), and of any usual or preferred size, said mouth piece including the bell-shaped or conical. mouth portion 2 and the stem portion 3, the former having the usual conical air inlet chamber 4L and the latter the slightly flaring cross-sectionally circular bore or passage 5. 6 is the throat portion, at which point the contracted end of the chamber lcommunicates with the enlarged forward end of the bore or passage In playing with a mouth piece of the general construction above described, an obstruction to the free passage of the wind is presented at the throat 6, owing to the restricted size of such throat with respect to the inlet chamber 4. As a consequence, a portion of the air seeking to enter the bore or passage 5 from the chamber 4 at some considerable velocity, is thrown back. producing a whirl of the air in the chamber 4,

1922. Serial No. 563,495.

which is more or less communicated to the an flowing into the passage the result be ing the production of excessive cross-tone vibrations with an objectionable reduction of longitudinal tone vibrations. The amount or amplitude of these cross-tone vibrations vary with the real; and relative di mcnsions of the air passages of the mouth pieces, but I have found that practically all mouth pieces oi conventional form are open, to a greater or less extent, to this objection, and that by the use of my in vention such objection may be overcome, the cross-tone vibrations decreased and the longitudiiml vibrations retained and aug merited, thus increasing the volume, range and purity of tone of the instrument to which the mouth piece is connected.

In carrying my invention into practice, I provide and arrange within the mouth piece a'partition or septum 7, which partition comprises a thin metallic plate centrally positioned in the bore 5 and throat 6 and dividing the air passage of the mouth piece into two equal longitudinal passages. This partition plate is straigl'lt and flat throughout its length and is longitudinally tapered, its side edges 8 extending on slightly converging angles rearwardly from points adjacent to its forward end continuously to its rear end. Atits "forward end portion, the edges of the partition plate are cut away obliquely on lines converging from the surfaces 8 to the center of said end portion. forming a substantially arrow-shapedhead portion 9. Formed in diametrically opposite sides of the throat (S are grooves 10 extending rearwardly on converging lines conforming to the taper of the edges 8. The arrowshaped head extends in the form of an air guide or deflector into ch amber 4, while the edge portions 8 of the forward half, of the partition fit within the grooves 10 and have a tight wedging engagement therewith, whereby the partition is held in position. This construction adapts the partition to be fitted into position by inserting into chamber 4 and sliding it rearwardly into the grooves 10, and it may be removed by a reverse motion whenever its removal is required for any purpose. As shown, and as will be evident from the foregoing description, the forward half of the partition is rigidly held in the grooves 10 and divides the throat into two equal longitudinal passages, While the head 9 extends intochamber 41- and forms a guide to split the column of air into two streams and lead the same to said passages, and the rear half of the partition extends rearwardly into the forward portion on" the bore t will be Observed that as the bore 5 flares rearwaii'dly, while the rear hali of the partition tapers in the same direction, such portion oi? the partition is free from connection with the walls of the bore. This free rear portion of the partition plate is adapted to have vibratory motion and serves the function of a vibratory tongue or reed 11, which in its actions flexibly resists transverse air movements in the columns tending to produce an undue amplitude of cross-tone vibrations, while at the same time serving to maintain the continuity o'l the longitudinal line streams and to hence retain the longitudinal tone vibrations and to amplify the tonal qualities thereof.

My invention diii'ers radically from multicelled partitions which multiply the number oil. air streams and, consequently. in

crease rather than diminish the whirling motion of the air in the air chamber and the cross vibrations produced thereby. My invention also differs radically from partitions having spiral or fluted portions for imparting a spiral motion to the flowing air which secures the opposite effect to that designed to be secured by my invention. With my form and arrangement of partition, the number of passages into which the throat is divided is reduced to the ininin'ium, thus avoiding objectionable resistance to the flow of the air, and at the same time this partition serves to check the rotary motion of the air in the air chamber and to translate the same into longitudinal line streams flowing through the throat passage divisions into the bore of the stem, thus reduc ing the cross vibrations, which are destructive to volume and purity of tone sounds, and retainingand augmenting the longitudinal vibrations which ensure the production of sound tones and increase the tonal range and sound volume of the instrument. Furthermore, the action of my partition plate in augmenting the longitudinal tone vibrations, due to the provision and function ofthe vibratory tongue or reed 11, materially promotes the efficiency of the device in securing the desired results.

Another advantage incident to my invention, in addition to those stated, is that it enables musicians having bad or ill fitting teeth or whose teeth. are partly or wholly missing, to play the instruments with greater ease and efliciency than is possible with the use or a conventional form of mouth piece unprovided with my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention. I claim:

1. The combination with the mouth piece of a wind musical instrument, having a conical air inlet chamber, and a stem provided with a bore communicating through a throat with said chamber, said bore flaring rearwardly from said throat, of a partition fitted in said throat and comprising a thin, flat, straight metallic plate of increasing width toward its vtor-ward end and diminishing width toward its rear end, said forward end of the plate forming an air splitting head portion projecting into the air inlet chamber and said rear end of the plate projecting into the flaring bore and being spaced from the walls thereof and forming a vibratory reed portion, the said partition providing two straight longitudinal air passages bet-ween the air chamber and bore for the flow of air in longitudinal line streams. 2. The combination with the mouthpiece of a wind musical instrument, having a conical air inlet chamber, and a stem provided with a bore communicating through a throat with said chamber, the walls of the throat having diametrically disposed longitudinal grooves, of a partition fitted in said throat and having longitudinal edge portions in wedging engagement with said grooves, said partition comprising a thin, flat, straight metallic plate of increasing width toward its forward end and diminishing width toward its rear end, said forward end oi the plate terminating in a substantially arrowshaped head portion projecting into the air chamber and the said rear end of: the partition forming a vibratory reed projecting into the bore and free from connection with the walls thereof, the said partition providing two straight longitudinal air passages between the air chamber and bore for the flow of air in longitudinal line streams.

In testimony whereoi I ailiX my signature.

ELVI'N' MILLER. 

